Op-ed: State policies are killing New York’s amusement and music industry

By Ken Goldberg Posted on June 3, 2025

From the time I was a teenager, I have spent my entire life working in a Queens-based, two-generation family business that grew into a market leader in the retail electronic amusement, music, tobacco, and ATM industry. In large measure, New York State’s policies are to blame for how this cottage industry, along with many small businesses like mine, is drying up and disappearing.

Going back to 1975, there were approximately 300 enterprises in our industry operating across the greater New York tri-state region. Today, there are just fifty. Several hundred people still earn their livelihoods here.